is nearly always a challenge for avery. nothing feels right, looks right, etc. she wants to wear short sleeves all the time, even in the winter and if it were up to her she'd wear the same brown stretchy pants every single solitary day.
what can i say? she's like her mother...comfort rules.
getting dressed can be a special challenge on sundays because it involves not only NOT wearing the brown stretchy pants, but wearing a dress. now avery isn't against wearing dresses per se. in fact, she has one or two that she loves with all her young girl heart. but the one or two that she loves with all her heart are the one or two most comfortable in her closet. and in that last sentence you could substitute the word "comfortable" for "pj-like"...or "worn out" and probably have a good idea of why she loves them and why we've made it a rule that she can't wear them to church.
i should clarify...devan has made it a rule that she can't wear them to church. at this point in my life -- pregnant with our fifth child -- i couldn't care less if she wore poop to church as long as it covered her in the form of a dress and i didn't have to argue with her to put it on. well, poop might be pushing it, but you get my drift. and devan. devan is fluent in color theory and seasons in a way i never could be. but everyone is different and that is fine. to each his own...
except when it causes contention on sunday mornings. so this morning avery got herself dressed and completely ready, including doing her hair and teeth, and came to show us just how beautiful she was. she was beautiful. and she was wearing the pj dress. devan told her that they had talked about that dress last sunday and had agreed that she wouldn't wear it to church. he looked to me for support and i dropped him like a hot potato. i was just glad she was dressed and i didn't have to have anything to do with it. i wasn't going to go rounds over winter colors versus summer colors. needless to say, my response went over like a lead balloon and so the contention started to creep in just a bit ...
a few minutes later i was in the hallway and aves approached me about the dress. i told her that if she and her father had talked about it before and she had already agreed to not wear the dress than i thought she should honor that agreement. that's all i said. five minutes later she came in to our room again with another dress on. she didn't fight about it. she didn't throw a fit. she just cooperated.
ahhh...cooperation is like a cool drink of water. it makes everything better. contention fizzled and we all left for church happy. crisis averted thanks to avery.
avery's choice to cooperate and obey and be agreeable was a beautiful miracle.
and so i saw God today.
ps, i hope to see Him more and more often like that in the future :)
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